It's 67 degrees and cloudy outside .. more than a wee bit cold for May 1st where I live .. so I put on a jacket, grabbed the camera and went on an evening walkabout.

The first picture is of Tillandsia caput - Medusa. It's going to flower. I'm trying very hard not to get really excited but it sure is taking it a very long time. I've been watching it for 2 months now. The 2nd picture is Indian Pink - Spigelia marilandica - it's going to flower too! I'm determined to get seeds this year and have my paintbrush at the ready.

This is Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Red Bird of Paradise. Note the middle plant with the yellow leaves. Is this normal? I'm kind of new to Caesalpinia so I don't know .. dare I say it? Could it be a sport? Same batch of seeds and treatment as the other two but decidedly different. And the 2nd picture is Chilean Jasmine - Mandevillea laxa. A very temperamental plant indeed .. when grown from seeds .. the first two years they are puny and fragile. This third year it's finally toughening up and not so pathetic. Success after 4 years of trying.

In the first picture is Clematis pitcheri on the left and Moon Vine, Ipomoea alba, the first 3rd of my Moon Garden. The 2nd picture are my passies, Lady Margaret and what I like to call Dino Tracks, Passiflora trifasciata - Tricolor. I was worried they might not come back after February's Zone 7 winter.

Here are the last 2 thirds of my Moon Garden - Datura inoxia and Chinese Cucumber, Trichosanthes kirlowii. They will planted this weekend in the front bed with the split rail fence.

Lastly a whimsical experiment with blue food coloring and a syringe on some 'Freds' Roses.

"The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. It speaks in the language of hope; It speaks in the language of trust; It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. But always, it is the same voice. It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us, And the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born. It is the small, still voice that says: We are one. No matter the blood; No matter the skin; No matter the world; No matter the star; We are one. No matter the pain; No matter the darkness; No matter the loss; No matter the fear; We are one. Here, gathered together in common cause. we agree to recognize this singular truth, and this singular rule: That we must be kind to one another, because each voice enriches us and ennobles us, and each voice lost diminishes us. We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future. We are one."

Thanks .. I just wish I knew what was going on with that Red Bird of Paradise.

"The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. It speaks in the language of hope; It speaks in the language of trust; It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. But always, it is the same voice. It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us, And the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born. It is the small, still voice that says: We are one. No matter the blood; No matter the skin; No matter the world; No matter the star; We are one. No matter the pain; No matter the darkness; No matter the loss; No matter the fear; We are one. Here, gathered together in common cause. we agree to recognize this singular truth, and this singular rule: That we must be kind to one another, because each voice enriches us and ennobles us, and each voice lost diminishes us. We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future. We are one."